Driver Arrested In Deadly Hit & Run At Kalamath & 13th Ave.

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DENVER (CBS4)- Police in Denver have arrested a woman they believe was driving when she struck and killed an elderly man and then drove away.

The hit and run happened about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Kalamath and 13th Avenue. The suspected driver was arrested just a little more than six hours later, about 11 p.m. Wednesday.

Police said the crash stemmed from some sort of confrontation in the Burger King parking lot at Colfax and Kalamath.

Latoya Nelson has been arrested for investigation of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal crash.

The scene of the deadly hit and run at Kalamath and 13th Ave. on Wednesday. (credit: CBS)

Police caught up to her just a few hours later during a routine traffic stop.

“Our traffic investigators responded to the location and during that scene investigation were able to develop a person of interest. That information was shared with our patrol personnel throughout the city who happened to make a traffic stop in the area of 31st and California and were able to make contact with that person of interest. As a result of that contact we were able to make an arrest for vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal crash,” said Sgt. Mike Farr with the Denver Police Traffic Investigations Unit.

According to police, Nelson, 29, backed into a vehicle in the Burger King parking lot Wednesday afternoon and a security guard tried to stop her. As she drove away she almost hit the guard.

Nelson then sped out of the lot and ran a red light at 13th and Kalamath, hitting an elderly man in his car in the process. The elderly man has been identified as Charlie Herrera.

Herrera, 85, was rushed to the hospital where he died a short time later.

Nelson abandoned her car and ran away. Police interviewed other people in the vehicle which was a rental out of Colorado Springs.

No one else was inside Herrera’s vehicle.

Police said Nelson was not alone in the car when she was arrested but would not elaborate on whether she was driving or was a passenger in the car.

Police said why people run can be attributed to a variety of reasons.

“It’s a question that’s different in every case and very difficult to answer here until you contact those folks and get an explanation from them, ‘What happened, what’s going on?’ A variety of reasons are suspected impairment, somebody who doesn’t have a valid driver’s license or paperwork for their car, think they’re wanted or may be wanted,” said Farr.